Farm-fresh tastes in central Petaluma

Published 11:29 am, Friday, November 1, 2013

Della Fattoria produces excellent bread and pastries in a downtown Petaluma building that has housed bakeries for 150 years.

Della Fattoria produces excellent bread and pastries in a downtown Petaluma building that has housed bakeries for 150 years.

Photo: Preston Gannaway, Special To The Chronicle

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Pecan tarts at Della Fattoria in Petaluma. The bakery also sells its bread and pastries at farmers' markets and stores throughout the Bay Area.

Pecan tarts at Della Fattoria in Petaluma. The bakery also sells its bread and pastries at farmers' markets and stores throughout the Bay Area.

Photo: Preston Gannaway, Special To The Chronicle

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Acre Coffee got its start in Petaluma two years ago. It has since expanded to locations in San Francisco and Santa Rosa.

Acre Coffee got its start in Petaluma two years ago. It has since expanded to locations in San Francisco and Santa Rosa.

Photo: Preston Gannaway, Special To The Chronicle

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Acre Coffee in Petaluma

Acre Coffee in Petaluma

Photo: Preston Gannaway, Special To The Chronicle

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Petaluma Creamery Store sells honey and other local products in addition to cheeses in Petaluma, Calif., on Wednesday, October 23, 2013.

Petaluma Creamery Store sells honey and other local products in addition to cheeses in Petaluma, Calif., on Wednesday, October 23, 2013.

Photo: Preston Gannaway, Special To The Chronicle

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A variety of cheeses on display at Petaluma Creamery Store in Petaluma, Calif., on Wednesday, October 23, 2013.

A variety of cheeses on display at Petaluma Creamery Store in Petaluma, Calif., on Wednesday, October 23, 2013.

Photo: Preston Gannaway, Special To The Chronicle

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Christine Grimaldi helps a customer at Della Fattoria in Petaluma, Calif., on Wednesday, October 23, 2013.

Christine Grimaldi helps a customer at Della Fattoria in Petaluma, Calif., on Wednesday, October 23, 2013.

Photo: Preston Gannaway, Special To The Chronicle

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Farm-fresh tastes in central Petaluma

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Best known for basic chicken and eggs, Petaluma sometimes gets overlooked compared with places with more foodie cred, such as Point Reyes, Sonoma and Healdsburg. But a walk around its historic downtown shows that it's still a hub of artisan food production.

Ever since the Gold Rush, Petaluma has served San Francisco and the surrounding Bay Area with fresh food, and it's still the center of much of Northern California's artisan dairy production.

Those companies don't have retail outlets in Petaluma proper, but there's a spillover effect in the quality of many local food businesses that use their products, including bakeries and coffee shops.

The businesses listed below are within a few blocks of each other in downtown Petaluma, where you can also find Petaluma Market (210 Western Ave.; (707) 762-5464; www.petalumamarket.com), a great place to find locally made products, including farmstead cheeses from nearby Valley Ford.

Acre Coffee: This 2-year-old coffee company has locations in San Francisco and Santa Rosa, but started here. The small interior has an artistic look, with salvaged wood and black and white elements.

Coffee beans come from Verve in Santa Cruz and Sight Glass in San Francisco, and the espresso drinks are prepared at a level you'd find at those high-end roasteries. The shop also makes its own chai with fresh ginger and silky steamed milk.

Bovine Bakery: A 3-year-old offshoot of the Point Reyes Station original, this small branch serves scones, morning buns and bear claws as big as a real bear paw, using local and organic ingredients. Bakers also turn out complex desserts like a raspberry almond marzipan tart. Breads, pizzas, soups, rice bowls and savory pastries balance out the offerings, and coffee is an organic selection from Thanksgiving Coffee in Fort Bragg.

Della Fattoria: In a building that has housed bakeries for 150 years, Della Fattoria bakes excellent bread and pastries and serves them in this cafe, as well as at many Bay Area farmers' markets and stores. It uses organic, local ingredients in its products.

You can grab a loaf of its famed Meyer lemon rosemary bread or a morning pastry to go, or sit down at a communal table for breakfast or lunch, including a breakfast sandwich with a poached egg, cheese and ham stuffed into a soft house-made roll.

Free Range: This new store has an emphasis on farm-chic kitchenware and sells a roster of locally made foods. Pending permits, the plan is to offer sandwiches and other deli foods using artisan products made within 100 miles.

Owner Suzanne Alexandre has worked for Farm Trails of Sonoma County and organized the Freestone Fermentation Festival, so she knows her artisan producers. For now, you can buy beer- and cheese-making kits, farm baskets, and preserves from Hurley Farms and Valley Girls, a nonprofit that teaches local teenage girls foodservice skills.

25 Fourth St.; (707) 299-8300. Open Thursday-Saturday.

Petaluma Pie Co.: This little shop tucked into a small park downtown uses local and organic products in its savory and sweet pies, which come in large, mini or nano (bite-size) versions, plus some handheld ones, for mixing and matching.

The menu has creative ideas like Elvis Cream Pie with peanut butter, chocolate cream and bananas, and a Philippine chicken empanada. Holiday offerings range from pear with ginger and cardamom to Shaker Meyer lemon.

Elsewhere

There are two spots just outside of city limits near the historic Petaluma Adobe that are worth a visit.

Green String Farm: (3571 Old Adobe Road; (707) 778-7500; www.greenstringfarm.com; open daily) has a farm stand where you can shop for its organic produce and grass-fed beef, plus honey, olive oil, vinegar, cheese and sourdough bread.

Angelo's Meats: (2700 Old Adobe Road; (707) 763-9586; http://angelossmokehouse.com; open daily) is the place to go for old-school smoked linguica sausage and turkey legs, plus beef jerky, all made by Angelo Ibelto himself, on site. (A small branch is located at 23400 Arnold Drive, Sonoma.)

You'll just have to dodge a few chickens as you roll into the gravel parking lot; this is Petaluma, after all.

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